Numbers 31:19

THE MESSAGE

"Now here's what you are to do: Pitch tents outside the camp. All who have killed anyone or touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. Purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. Purify every piece of clothing and every utensil—everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood."

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Encamp you outside of the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

King James Version
And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

Lexham English Bible
And you, camp outside the camp seven days; all who killed a person and all who touched the slain purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

English Standard Version
Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

New Century Version
"All you men who killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh days you and your captives must make yourselves clean.

New English Translation
"Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

Amplified Bible
"Camp outside the camp for seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any dead body, purify yourselves and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.

New American Standard Bible
"And as for you, camp outside the camp for seven days; whoever has killed a person and whoever has touched anyone killed, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And ye shal remaine without the host seuen dayes, all that haue killed any person, and all that haue touched any dead, and purifie both your selues and your prisoners the third day and the seuenth.

Legacy Standard Bible
And you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.

Contemporary English Version
Then Moses said to the soldiers, "If you killed anyone or touched a dead body, you are unclean and have to stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third and seventh days, you must go through a ceremony to make yourselves and your captives clean.

Complete Jewish Bible
Pitch your tents outside the camp for seven days. Whoever has killed a person or touched the corpse of someone slain, purify yourselves on the third and seventh days, you and your captives.

Darby Translation
And encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever hath killed a person, and whoever hath touched any slain; ye shall purify yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

Easy-to-Read Version
And then, all you men who killed other people must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must stay outside the camp even if you just touched a dead body. On the third day you and your prisoners must make yourselves pure. You must do the same thing again on the seventh day.

George Lamsa Translation
And as for you, you shall abide outside the camp seven days; whosoever has killed any person and whosoever has touched any slain purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day,

Good News Translation
Now all of you who have killed anyone or have touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and on the seventh day purify yourselves and the women you have captured.

Christian Standard Bible®
“You are to remain outside the camp for seven days. All of you and your prisoners who have killed a person or touched the dead are to purify yourselves on the third day and the seventh day.

Literal Translation
And encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever touched a pierced one, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And lodge ye without the hoost, all yt haue slayne any man, or touched the slayne, that on the thirde and seuenth daie ye maie purifie yor selues and those whom ye haue taken presoners.

American Standard Version
And encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.

Bible in Basic English
You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And ye shall remayne without the hoast seuen dayes, all that haue kylled any person, and all that haue touched any dead body, and purifie both your selues and your prisoners the thirde day and the seuenth.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And encamp ye without the camp seven days; whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.

King James Version (1611)
And doe yee abide without the campe seuen dayes: whosoeuer hath killed any person, and whosoeuer hath touched any slaine, purifie both your selues, and your captiues, on the third day, and on the seuenth day.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And ye shall encamp outside the great camp seven days; every one who has slain and who touches a dead body, shall be purified on the third day, and ye and your captivity shall purify yourselves on the seventh day.

English Revised Version
And encamp ye without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, ye and your captives.

Berean Standard Bible
All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and dwelle ye with out the castels in seuene daies. He that sleeth a man, ether touchith a slayn man, schal be clensid in the thridde and the seuenthe dai;

Young's Literal Translation
`And ye, encamp ye at the outside of the camp seven days -- any who hath slain a person, and any who hath come against a pierced one, ye cleanse yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day -- ye and your captives;

Update Bible Version
And encamp outside the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

Webster's Bible Translation
And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whoever hath killed any person, and whoever hath touched any slain, purify [both] yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

World English Bible
Encamp you outside of the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.

New King James Version
And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

New Living Translation
And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days.

New Life Bible
Stay away from the tents for seven days. If you have killed any person or have touched any dead body, you must make yourself and those you have taken clean, on the third day and on the seventh day.

New Revised Standard
Camp outside the camp seven days; whoever of you has killed any person or touched a corpse, purify yourselves and your captives on the third and on the seventh day.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Ye, then, pitch outside the camp, for seven days, - whosoever hath killed a person and whoever hath touched the slain, cleanse yourselves (from sin) on the third day and on the seventh day ye and your captives,.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And stay without the camp seven days. He that hath killed a man, or touched one that is killed, shall be purified the third day and the seventh day.

Revised Standard Version
Encamp outside the camp seven days; whoever of you has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.

Contextual Overview

¹³Moses, Eleazar, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet the returning army outside the camp. Moses was furious with the army officers—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—as they came back from the battlefield: "What's this! You've let these women live! They're the ones who, under Balaam's direction, seduced the People of Israel away from God in that mess at Peor, causing the plague that hit God 's people. Finish your job: kill all the boys. Kill every woman who has slept with a man. The younger women who are virgins you can keep alive for yourselves. ¹⁹"Now here's what you are to do: Pitch tents outside the camp. All who have killed anyone or touched a corpse must stay outside the camp for seven days. Purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. Purify every piece of clothing and every utensil—everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood." ²¹Eleazar the priest then spoke to the soldiers who had fought in the battle: "This is the ruling from the Revelation that God gave Moses: Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—and anything else that can survive fire—must be passed through the fire; then it will be ritually purified. It must also be ritually washed in the Water-of-Cleansing. Further, whatever cannot survive fire must be put through that water. On the seventh day scrub your clothes; you will be ritually clean. Then you can return to camp."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

abide: Though the Israelites had acted by the commission of God, yet they had contracted pollution by touching the dead; and the spoil having been used by idolaters, must also be purified in the prescribed manner. Numbers 5:2, Numbers 19:11-22, 1 Chronicles 22:8

Reciprocal: Genesis 22:4 - third Numbers 19:12 - third day Numbers 19:16 - toucheth Numbers 19:19 - on the seventh day he Joshua 6:23 - left them

Cross-References

Genesis 31:4
So Jacob sent word for Rachel and Leah to meet him out in the field where his flocks were. He said, "I notice that your father has changed toward me; he doesn't treat me the same as before. But the God of my father hasn't changed; he's still with me. You know how hard I've worked for your father. Still, your father has cheated me over and over, changing my wages time and again. But God never let him really hurt me. If he said, ‘Your wages will consist of speckled animals' the whole flock would start having speckled lambs and kids. And if he said, ‘From now on your wages will be streaked animals' the whole flock would have streaked ones. Over and over God used your father's livestock to reward me.

Genesis 31:14
Rachel and Leah said, "Has he treated us any better? Aren't we treated worse than outsiders? All he wanted was the money he got from selling us, and he's spent all that. Any wealth that God has seen fit to return to us from our father is justly ours and our children's. Go ahead. Do what God told you."

Genesis 35:2
Jacob told his family and all those who lived with him, "Throw out all the alien gods which you have, take a good bath and put on clean clothes, we're going to Bethel. I'm going to build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and has stuck with me everywhere I've gone since."

Hosea 3:4
The people of Israel are going to live a long time stripped of security and protection, without religion and comfort, godless and prayerless. But in time they'll come back, these Israelites, come back looking for their God and their David-King. They'll come back chastened to reverence before God and his good gifts, ready for the End of the story of his love.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And do ye abide without the camp seven days..... Which was the time that anyone that touched a dead body remained unclean,

Numbers 19:11,

whosoever hath killed any person; as most of them if not all must have done; all the males of Midian that fell into their hands being slain by them, that were men grown:

and whosoever hath touched any slain; as they must to strip them of their garments, and take their spoil from them:

purify both yourselves and your captives, on the third and on the seventh day; which were the days appointed for the purification of such that were polluted by touching dead bodies, Numbers 19:11 and their captives, which were the female little ones; (for as for the women, and males among the little ones, they were ordered to be slain;) though they were Heathens, yet inasmuch as they were to be for the service of the Israelites, and to be brought up in their religion, they were to be purified also; to which purpose is the note of Jarchi;

"not that the Gentiles receive uncleanness and need sprinkling, but as ye are the children of the covenant, so your captives, when they come into the covenant, and are defiled, need sprinkling.''